Jesus & Yoga
Be still and know that I am God!
-Psalms 46:10, NLT
How do you become still enough to hear the voice of God? Some people walk, some run, some hike, some pray, and some sit in meditation. I practice yoga. Yoga helps me quiet my mind so that I can begin to hear His still, small voice. But it turns out that the practice of yoga is quite controversial among some Christians…and I’m not talking about the folks who just aren’t flexible enough. There are some who even claim that yoga is devil worship. What!?!?!? Okay, okay…as a yoga teacher and Jesus lover, I just have to speak up. I believe that I’m meant to increase tolerance and help foster understanding in those who seek it. If you’re inclined to read on, please do. If you’re already mounting your internal resistance and starting to fume, you can move right along. And I won’t judge you for it—that principal aligns with both yoga and Christianity.
Yoga is not a religion; it’s a philosophy. What’s the difference? A philosophy outlines “basic beliefs, concepts, and attitudes,” while a religion is an “institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices” (merriam-webster.com). The two definitions are pretty similar, but I think we can all agree that central to any religion is a god or gods, right? Well, yoga has no gods. Yoga originated in India, where Hindu religion permeates the culture, and Hinduism is full of gods and goddesses. Hinduism provided the context for the development of yoga philosophy. However, while yoga and Hinduism have been historically intertwined, they are not one and the same.
There was originally only one yoga “asana” (seat or pose, in Sanskrit), and it was the meditation seat—the position in which you could meditate, presumably for hours. However, over time, other poses were developed to stretch and strengthen the body so that seekers could sit in meditation without distraction from bodily discomfort. This is how the yoga we practice here in the West came to be. Some teachers use stories of Hindu mythology to bring deeper understanding of the yoga postures. I’ve never excelled at weaving these stories into my teachings. I prefer to use silence, stillness, and observation to help my students find what they’re seeking. Taking a mindful approach to movement and stillness, simply observing the flow of the breath, thoughts, and sensations in the body, for me, have been the most powerful techniques for achieving quietness.
So, what are you seeking? If you seek a place of peace and calm, perhaps a yoga mat is where you’ll find it. Once you allow all of your proverbial baggage to fall away, you may just find that place of peace inside yourself--dare I call it, the “peace that passes understanding” or maybe the indwelling spirit--that you never notice because you can’t shut off that voice inside your head. But what do I know?
I am a yoga teacher and a Jesus believer. There are many others like me, those who practice yoga and follow Jesus. Yoga is a set of tools and practices that enable me to find the mental and physical stillness that are absolutely required to know God’s will for my life. When sitting on a meditation cushion, I struggle to quiet my mind--I think about my to-do list, what I’m going to eat for my next meal, the mountain of laundry that I still need to fold--but, when I’m on my mat, tuned in, and integrating breath with movement, I’m fully present. My mind isn’t wandering. It’s right here, right now, and that’s the only time and place in which one can encounter God. In sharing yoga with others, I hope to help facilitate their inner stillness so they can also encounter Divine wisdom.